Chapter 159: Changes [1]   Laying down on the floor panting, I turned my head to the right where Donna's figure could be seen holding onto a large metal staff. Seeing this, I pleaded.

"Huff…huff…huff…Miss Longbern, please let me rest!"

Hearing my plea, Donna ignored me and proceeded to lightly sway the metal staff on her shoulder as she shook her head and said.

"Nope, we still have got one hour left before the session ends so hurry up and get up"

" Ghhh…damn it!"

Helpless, I could only lift my tired body up and once again prepared myself to be subjected to Donna's merciless beating.

-Clank!

"khh…"

As soon as I stood up, without giving me a chance to recover, Donna appeared before me and horizontally swung the staff in her hand. As she swung her staff, hurtling in my direction, it's metal body split the air apart.

"huup!"

Seeing the staff move, without hesitation, I ducked my body down and avoided it within a hairbreadth.

"Not bad but not good enough"

Seeing me dodge her attack, a faint smile appeared on Donna's lips as she suddenly halted her movement mid-swing and swung the staff downwards. Seeing this, I helplessly mumbled.

"…that's cheating"

-Bang!

The last thing I heard was the sound of the staff splitting the air before a tremendous force hit my back causing me to fall face-first on the ground.

-Dank!

"Gaaaahhh!"

Hitting the ground, a painful groan escaped from my mouth as I clenched my fists and tried my best to withhold the pain.

…it hurt like hell.

It felt as though someone had slapped my naked back with the palm of their hand at full force. The pain was something that couldn't be described in words…excruciating.

On the bright side, fortunately, she held back, otherwise, I would've found myself without a spine.

"Not bad you've improved quite a bit since your first lesson"

Leisurely putting the metal staff on her shoulder, Donna walked around me as she nodded her head in appreciation.

…ever since the first day that Donna had started training Ren, she realized that he was indeed talented.

With every lesson they had, she would see him improve quickly. When she asked him how he was able to learn so quickly, the response Donna got was…

'I just repeat what we've learned in the previous lesson until I memorize what I could've done better and where I went wrong, this way I don't make the same mistake again'

Hearing this response Donna was incredibly pleased. This was exactly what every teacher wanted to hear from her students.

It was fine for someone to be talented…but unless you put in the work and actively sought to improve yourself rather than remaining complacent…only then that you will set yourself apart from the average.

Only those that actively sought to be better regardless of their talent were people worthy of her admiration.

Thinking along those lines, Donna's impression of Ren increased.

"Very good, from the way you reacted and from the way that you were moving and positioning yourself, I can see that you've improved a lot. I'm very happy with your progress"

Weakly looking up at Donna who had just spoken, as a small groan escaped from my mouth, as I softly said.

"Khh…the reason I was able to improve so much is because of your amazing teaching ability Miss Longbern. Without you, I would've never gotten this far…"

…though true, half of it was just me being sarcastic.

Ever since my first lesson with Donna I've been continuously beaten black and blue by her. There was not a single day where I would come out unscathed.

The most annoying part of the training was that whenever I managed to somewhat adjust to Donna's rhythm, she would once again increase her intensity resulting in the same thing repeating all over again.

…this had persisted for one and a half months.

Yes, though short, a month and a half had passed since I started training with Donna, and my strength had seen a considerable boost since that time.

With my understanding of psyons improving day by day thanks to Donna's tutelage, I've finally managed to get a better understanding of wind psyons which resulted in my sword art seeing an improvement as a result.

As of right now, apart from [Ring of vindication] which was on the verge of breaking through, both the [Keiki style] and [Drifting steps] were now at the Greater realm of mastery which was resulted in a significant boost in my strength as I was now finally able to perform the third movement of the [Keiki style] : Void step.

An incredibly overpowered move that resembled the first movement of the [Keiki style], quick flash, however, unlike that move, what set this move apart was that it allowed me to teleport anywhere within a ten-meter radius of myself.

Still, although it was strong, it wasn't perfect as it required far more mana to use and took more time to charge up.

Either way, with me being able to perform the third movement, I was now significantly stronger than what I was back a month prior.

Moreover, my battle awareness and experience had also seen a significant improvement due to all of the beatings that I took from Donna. Simply put, if the current me fought against the me from a month prior, I would beat myself black and blue as Donna did to me every training lesson.

Staring at Ren's beaten figure and hearing his sarcastic remark, Donna shook her head as she faintly smiled.

"Oh? You've started to learn the art of flattery?"

Shaking my head, I firmed my tone and seriously looked at Donna.

"Me? No way, how is that possible? Every word that I just said came from the bottom of my hear-"

However, before I could finish speaking, with her purple eyes shining slightly, I suddenly lost control of my mouth.

"Alright, stop it with the sarcasm, I can see through you"

Lazily nodding my head, I once again sarcastically said

"yes, yes…I shall diligently and wholeheartedly follow the wise words of professor Longbern"

Raising her brow and lifting the metal staff in the air, Donna threatened.

"You want another beating?"

Seeing Donna raise the staff, smiling kindly, I shook my head and proceeded to say

"Ah, it seems like I have to go…goodbye Miss Longbern, see you on Friday during our next class"

Though it looked like I was running away, in fact, I wasn't. Even though I said all of that, I wasn't really worried about Donna hitting me.

After having spent a month and a half with Donna, we had gotten a little bit more comfortable with each other.

Although I still did not refer to her as Donna and just called her Miss Longbern, our relationship had gotten to the point where we would occasionally share a bit of banter with each other just like now.

She wasn't actually serious about beating me.

…I hope.

"Ah, right, I almost forgot"

Just as I was about to leave, Donna's crisp voice entered my ears.

"Ren, before you leave I have something I want to tell you"

Turning around, I raised my brow

"Yes? What do you need"

Putting the staff down, Donna took out her tablet from her dimensional space. Thereafter, scrolling through the tablet in her hand, Donna briefly said

"Exchange students will be coming in a couple of days so you better get ready…"

Suddenly an ominous feeling arose in my heart. Squinting my eyes I wearily asked.

"…Ready for what?"

With the palm of her hand on top of the staff, Donna twirled the staff on the ground and softly said

"Congratulations, you've been selected as one of the people that will orient the exchange students around the academy on the first day. Do not worry, you won't be alone as you will have another classmate aiding you in the process…"

"…"

Hearing this piece of news, after a short pause, I couldn't help but groan out loud.

"…you're kidding"

Scrolling through the tablet, Donna shook her head

"I'm not kidding at all, I personally recommended you for this job"

She wasn't lying about the recommending part.

Donna was indeed the one that had recommended Ren to be part of the students that will be in charge of helping the exchange students.

There was no spite in her action, in fact, she had done this for Ren.

Taking into consideration his low talent, Donna wanted to broaden his options. Since being an agent was an option, Donna decided to expose Ren to as many people as possible as agents thrived on connections.

Thus, as she heard Ren's unenthusiastic reply, Donna sighed as she said

"Oh shut it, you ungrateful kid. Take this as an opportunity to create connections with students from other schools. You'll need it for the future"

Nodding my head, with my back hunched, I gloomily left the training area.

"Your wish is my command…"

…great.

Just what I needed.

…I now was in charge of babysitting a bunch of exchange students whom I didn't know. Brushing, my damp and sweaty hair to the side, I couldn't help but think

'I just hope that nothing annoying was going to happen.'

Either way, since it had come to this, I could only accept and adapt to the situation.

The first thing I was to do as soon as I got back to the dorm would be to investigate every single exchange student that was coming.

…recalling the incident with the Manticore building, I realized how important it was to gather information beforehand. Therefore, before the students arrived, I'll study each and every profile of the students that were coming in a couple of days, and from there separate the profiles into two piles.

Who to avoid, and who to interact with.

…

Staring at Ren's depressed figure leaving the training hall, Donna couldn't help but smile as she shook her head.

'…what an amusing kid'

Normally, if it were any other student, they would've been jumping up and down with joy at the chance of hosting and helping the exchange students.

…that was because they were all elites that came from different cities. They were people that had connections and could aid their career in the future.

Yet it seemed as though it was the end of the world for him.

Lightly chuckling, Donna tidied up the training room and proceeded to sit down cross-legged in the middle of the room as a purple hue started emanating from her body.

-Shuuua!

As the purple hue around her body expanded covering the whole room, Donna's brows relaxed as she thought to herself.

'I wonder what surprises he will show me in the future…'

The more she trained with him, the higher the expectations of him became.

…she really wanted to know what future awaited him.